Iskolánkról

Introduction

APÁCZAI CSERE JÁNOS PRACTICE SCHOOL
School Profile

Apáczai Csere János Practice School, founded in 1955, is a strongly academic secondary school in the centre of Budapest.
This school has more than fifty years' experience of educating boys and girls from Budapest and all over Hungary.
Our former pupils have made significant contributions to the reputation of the school,
and the results obtained by students today rank the school among the most achieving ones in this country.
Out of a total number of 600 pupils, fifty girls and fifty boys are residential members of our boarding school situated
in the school building thus providing them an outstanding opportunity to focus on their studies while enjoying the homely
atmosphere of the dormitories.

Apáczai is a reputed educational brand in Hungary figuring in the CV-s of many recognized personalities,
giving this country a prime minister, a president of the Supreme Court, a university rector, company CEOs,
many leading scientists, doctors, engineers, economists, lawyers and humanities experts.

The school welcomes pupils from the age of 12 and 14 in various types of classes and offers high standard education in the teaching
of all classical secondary school subjects. As a selective school, children who consider Apáczai are required to take a
written and an oral entrance examination as part of the national secondary school entry procedure.

The school offers a range of different curricula from study tracks concentrating on the humanities to science-focused study
groups maintaining the traditional stronghold of this school. In the so-called general classes the National Curriculum accounts
for much of our timetable to year 11 when pupils make their choice according to their fields of interest and their career plans,
and specialise in two additional subjects.

In addition, in our specialised classes pupils take more lessons in the main subjects from as early as the age of 14 (year 9),
besides taking all the subjects nationally required. Each group of this kind includes 17-18 pupils, which means very good background
to tutorial work throughout the years. In all classes a large number of students participate in extra-curricular
specialist courses aimed to prepare them for national competitions and their further studies.

Our school is a member of the Hungarian Genius Programme, which is designed to support talented young students to realise
their full potential, helping them to become responsible intellectuals of society. Furthermore,
our students are constantly encouraged to challenge their abilities through a wide variety of national and international competitions,
such as the National Academic Competition of Secondary Schools or the International Student Olympics,
where our students have proven to be among the best ones in the country. The proportion of students accepted at top universities
of Hungary is just as remarkable.

Owning to our successful contribution to the national Social Renewal Operational Programme (TÁMOP),
new methods of competence-based education have been introduced in the school in the academic year of 2009/2010.
These include, among many others, cooperative work and arrangements in certain lessons,
the conscious improvement of effective individual learning skills and social competences as well as the consistent application
of information and communication technologies.

The role of learning foreign languages is of paramount importance in the school curriculum as well.
Our students study two foreign languages in Apáczai, i.e. English or German, and French, Italian, Russian or Latin.
The majority of students obtain at least one language certificate of the intermediate level by the time they graduate,
while it is also common that they possess two certificates, one of which is often of the advanced level.

Apáczai is a practice school, i.e. a school maintained by ELTE (Eötvös Loránd University,
which is reputed as one of the oldest universities and definitely the largest one in Hungary) and is appointed to participate
in teacher training. Every year there are about 200 trainees who take the first basic steps in teaching practice here.
Our qualified and experienced mentor teachers guide them through the course during which the trainees themselves teach our classes.
All in all, we consider it our fundamental duty to help future generations of teachers to familiarise themselves with
the general practice of effective modern teaching methods.

The building of the school was raised in 1911 and therefore it needs renovation and modernisation.
However, in the last few years efforts have been made and as a result an excellent library and an up-to-date Information Technology
room (both recently modernised) help pupils in self-access as well as a theatre room and two gymnasiums, which support
the sporting achievements we are proud of. In the last year 13 classrooms have been equipped with interactive whiteboards
in order to enhance the effectiveness of our education.

Education is of course about academic excellence, but it is also about the whole person.
All pupils are encouraged to participate in the various kinds of activities the school offers such as ones organised by the student
committee, a drama group, choir and sporting. We are proud of our monthly school magazine released by the students and the
student radio station. A school festival is organised yearly, during which students and teachers are encouraged to participate
in academic lectures and interactive cultural programmes. We maintain good relationships with schools of a similar profile
and organise extra-curricular programmes in which students with similar goals and interests can meet,
share their experiences and spend their free time together. Each year more than 200 pupils enjoy the benefits of our romantic,
nomadic school camp site near the River Tisza.

Our school maintains deep-rooted international contacts. We have regular exchange programmes with schools from France,
Sweden and Denmark and we are open towards new partners. Apáczai has been a participant in the Socrates/Comenius scheme and
involved in several exchange projects. The school is closely linked to schools, Hungarian speaking communities and other institutions
in Transylvania, Romania.